4. The balance between life and death

Emerging on the other side of the portal, Xu Lei shivered. The dungeon he had just left was far from warm, but this new place was freezing. His sweat-soaked clothes made him feel even colder.

He and the other adventurers who had crossed through found themselves in a short but wide corridor. Ahead of them was a chamber, but it was too dark to see what it contained.

"We made it," Alice said, panting.

"We need some help here!" someone shouted.

"Of course," she said and hurried to assist the wounded.

Xu Lei could have used her help too. His hand was bleeding slightly from a cut he had received during the fight. He also had some bruises and scratches, but nothing serious. He was used to minor injuries from working three part-time jobs at the same time. He had done everything to save enough money for the machine.

He noticed a tall man pushing his way through the crowd. It was the same man who had wanted to use Xu Lei as bait. He stopped briefly in front of him and Dan.

"Look how many made it. I hope it was worth it," he said sarcastically, looking at Dan. Then he briefly glanced at Xu Lei before leaving them.

Xu Lei looked around and realized that their group had shrunk significantly. There had been over thirty people before, but now only about half of them seemed to have made it through the portal.

Dan opened his mouth to reply, but before he could say anything, a loud, familiar voice echoed in everyone's head.

'Congratulations! You finished the first trial. Now the second one awaits you. Show me if you are worthy of my blessings! Show me how smart you are!' said the statue.

Xu Lei had a strange feeling as if the voice was coming from above, but since he wasn't really hearing it with his ears, it was impossible to pinpoint the direction.

The words made the adventurers react. Some of them cautiously stepped forward, trying to see what was in the mysterious chamber ahead.

Xu Lei shifted his attention to the exploration, focusing on his senses. He realized that the terrible stench was gone. He immediately took a deep breath of the cold, stale air, which was much fresher than the awful gases he had gotten used to inhaling.

"Don't worry. It's not your fault. Alastor likes to blame others. Don't pay too much attention to his words," Rolan's voice reached Xu Lei's ears.

The man suddenly appeared next to him and placed his heavy hand on his shoulder while smiling gently.

Xu Lei nodded in response, but couldn't smile back.

Meanwhile, a group of adventurers at the front readied themselves to step out of the short, wide corridor. Dan and Alice were spearheading the escapade, while Alastor and the unnamed black-haired woman stayed at the back line, next to each other, indicating that they had formed some sort of an alliance. At least for now.

"Let's go. If we don't move, they will leave us behind," Rolan said, chuckling slightly as if he was joking.

Xu Lei nodded again and followed him and the rest of the adventurers as they slowly entered the chamber. The darkness ahead gave off an ominous vibe. Suddenly, a loud, high-frequency humming sound filled the air. There was a flash of light on the floor, right under Dan's and Alice's feet, as they were at the very front. In a fraction of a second, both of them disappeared.

Everyone froze. Gasps escaped from many mouths, and then a loud noise shook the whole space. Suddenly, the chamber ahead wasn't dark anymore, as a river of light poured in, briefly blinding the people. It was much brighter than what the weak flames, slowly devouring the torches, were able to produce.

It also revealed Dan and Alice. They were on the other side of the chamber, balancing on large scales suspended above a gaping chasm. It was pitch black, despite all the light, indicating that it was really deep.

Both of them tried their best in desperation to keep the whole thing stable and save themselves from falling down.

On the wall, on the other side, was a massive relief of the same woman whose statue Xu Lei had already seen. She had her arms spread wide. By her feet was a closed door. The only way out, as the portal was suddenly gone.

Or maybe only an indication of one, blocked by some kind of obstacle that nobody seemed to understand yet.

'The second trial begins,' resonated in the minds of all the adventurers.

The words made everyone look around for more clues about what the trial would be about, but the chamber was empty of any.

'Where two of your friends are in peril. They stand on a scale that must be balanced, Or else they will fall into the abyss.

To save them, you must answer this question right, But beware, for each answer has a price. What is the thing that can be broken, but never held? Choose wisely, or your friends will be felled.

Is it something that two people share, But can be destroyed by a word or a glare? If you say this, then one friend will be free, But the other will plummet for eternity.

Is it something that lives inside you, But can be killed by what others do? If you say this, then one friend will survive, But the other will die before your eyes.

Or is there another way to solve this test, That can save both friends from this deadly quest? If you find it, then both friends will be spared, But only if you speak the truth, and do not dare to lie,' the voice recited, and as it did so, the words began appearing on the floor, in front of the chasm.

When the last one was written, a circle right before the text was created as well.

For Xu Lei, the whole thing felt familiar. He had studied the previous game from 'Golden Dragon Games', the game that changed everything, so he knew how it tested the players. They had to make many hard, nightmarish decisions. Each time someone died, their avatar was completely erased, and they had to start from scratch. And in 'Hero's Road', such decisions were often a part of the grand quest.

Their new product, 'The Elysia', seemed no different. Fortunately, this time it was just a bunch of NPCs, but still. For Xu Lei, they held some value, as both Dan and Alice had stood up for him before.

'I won't let you just die. I'll find a way,' he promised more to himself than to them.

For the first few seconds, nobody dared to say a word, but then someone asked: "W-what do we do?"

Nobody dared to answer at first, but eventually, the unnamed dark-haired woman, standing next to Alastor, spoke up: "I think you have to enter the circle to give the answer," she said. "Otherwise they both would be already dead."

"We shouldn't sacrifice the healer," Alastor pointed out. "She is too useful."

"How do you want to manage that if we don't know the answers, nor do we know which answer is going to kill whom?" the woman asked, raising her eyebrows.

"One answer is definitely a promise. You can keep a promise, and you can break a promise, but you can't hold it," Alastor said.

"The other one is heart!" someone added loudly. "You can break a heart, but you can't hold it."

"You can hold a heart!" a different adventurer disagreed. "You carve it out from a body and you can hold it."

"It's a symbol of a heart the riddle is talking about, you idiot!" the author of the answer argued.

"What did you call me?!" the adventurer stepped out, clearly ready to turn the argument physical, but Rolan blocked his path.

"Well... Since we know only one good answer for sure, that makes our choice easier," the black-haired woman shrugged her shoulders and stepped forward. "We will have to gamble and hope for the best outcome."

"Wait!" Xu Lei shouted, going to the front of the group. His voice echoed in the mostly empty chamber.

"You have the answer, mister light element?" the woman asked, raising one of her eyebrows as a smirk appeared on her face.

"No. Not yet… Let me think," he admitted.

Xu Lei stepped in front of her, ready to block her if she tried to protest.

Alastor curled his lip and blew air through his nose.

"Give him a chance," Rolan said.

Xu Lei ignored them all. His attention was fixed on the writing in front of the circle. The letters glowed bright despite all the light in the chamber.

'Or is there another way to solve this test, That can save both friends from this deadly quest? If you find it, then both friends will be spared, But only if you speak the truth, and do not dare to lie.' He repeated the words in his head. 'Do not dare to lie… If I say something stupid, there will be dire consequences. We all might lose. I need to give a correct answer. Something that can be broken, but never held…'

"We can't risk saying something dumb. We must give the correct answer," Alastor shouted as if he could read Xu Lei's mind.

Xu Lei felt a surge of pressure. He had to do something. He had to show them he knew what to say. Because if he kept quiet and did nothing, they could act on their own and ruin everything. He took a few steps forward, stopping right before the circle.

"I'm not gonna let him waste our chance!" Alastor announced and pushed his way through the crowd.

Xu Lei looked over his shoulder at the source of the commotion. Their eyes met briefly. There was no hesitation on Alastor's face. So there was also no other choice but to step into the circle, even though Xu Lei had no answer.

'In the worst-case scenario, I will say promise,' he thought.

Then he looked up at the relief on the wall ahead and met its eyes with confidence. Everybody behind him, as well as the two trapped on the scales, held their breaths, anticipating to hear his response, but Xu Lei's lips remained sealed.

'Congratulations! That is a correct answer!', the voice of the statue once again resonated in everybody's mind.

People were looking at one another, expecting to find somebody who understood what happened, but it awfully looked like they all had only questions.